Mike Fahey

When Origin PC sent me their EON15-S laptop for review, time and time again they stressed that while I was getting a plain cover unit for the system, they were also available with a shiny colored plastic lid, special molded to evoke futuristic technology.

To which I say hey, Origin PC, you don't need to get all fancied up to impress me. You don't have to put on that red, silver or black dress tonight. Just keep a low profile and keep kicking Crysis 2's ass and we'll be the best of friends. A gaming system does not have to look like a gaming system — only play like one.

I much prefer the look of the Origin EON15-S I received. It's a bit chunky at 1.4 inches deep and nearly seven pounds, but that's the price we pay for power in these days of underperforming slim laptops. It's go big or go home.

Advertisement

Simple and elegant.

Not that the EON15-S is the biggest thing going. Only 14 inches wide it straddles the sweet spot for portable PC gaming, it's 1920x1080 display sharper and more substantial than that of a smaller high-powered gaming laptop, while more dainty than the devourer of Starbucks table space that is the 17-incher. This is the sort of gaming laptop Goldilocks would buy if she had a spare $2,500.

Origin EON15-S Review Configuration

Intel Core i7-3820QM Quad-Core Processor (2.70GHz), 8MB Cache

2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M (2GB of Total GFX)

Origin PC Professional Graphics Card Overclocking

8GB DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

750GB 7200RPM HDD

mSATA intel 40GB

6X Blu-ray Reader/8X DVD+/-R/2.4X +DL Super-Multi Drive

CyberLink PowerDVD 12 Ultra

WLAN/BT Combo

Windows 7 Home Premium

1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty with DVD image and Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support

Total Configured Price: $2530

Inside that unassuming black box is one hell of a PC gaming performer. Packed with all the goodies I put in the sidebar so I wouldn't have to type them again, the EON15-S took on Crysis 2 (with the DirectX 11 pack) on ultra settings, outputting a relatively stable 40 frames per second — pretty damn good for a portable PC, with similar performance for both The Witcher 2 (which I will never stop playing) and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.The unit stayed relatively cool throughout my interactive assaults, never getting hot to the touch, something I've experienced far too often in the world of high-powered gaming laptops.

Another surprise came in the form of the unit's sound. The installed Onkyo speakers deliver richer, more satisfying sound than I'm used to from an Origin unit. They're no 7.1 surround set-up (though the EON15-S supports it), but the drivers lurking underneath the grill above the keyboard are definitely doing something right.

It's got power. It's got performance. You want fancy?

There, they keyboard is back-lit with glowing, pulsing and dancing colored lights that can be configured as garishly as you'd like. Make it constantly wave your college colors. Set it to red, white and blue when you're feeling particularly patriotic (adjust colors to suit your region). Or just leave it on a solid color and enjoy the flat, responsive keys without having to hold a rave.

And you can always opt for the colorful candy shell, which won't cost a penny extra, or a custom paint job, which will cost you an arm and a leg.

Or you can just keep it plain and simple.

That's the sort of laptop that looks comfortable sitting next to some peanut butter and Wheat Thins. And should your gaming friends poke fun of you for your old man machine, open it up, load up Crysis 2, and blow their faces off. Then cover their skinless skulls with peanut butter and stick Wheat Thins on it to make faces.